A phenomenon during the late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age which in its simplest form could be called ‘a culture of the Baltic Sea’ is an idea which many archaeologists have favoured. However, the term ‘a culture of the Baltic Sea’ is not the most ideal to use when discussing the Baltic Sea during this time in prehistory, as the term is rather simplifying from what would be the more diverse truth. The term entails that there should have been a cultural homogeneity across the Baltic Sea as it most certainly was not. This thesis complicates this otherwise simplified term and calls the cultural phenomenon ‘a cultural hybrid of the northern Baltic Sea area’ (i.e. the northern part of the Baltic Sea including its neighbouring gulfs). A cultural hybrid, in this sense, allows there to be cultural differences within an area. These differences are accepted by the people within the cultural hybrid which in turn allow people to live among each other, rather than to become a social obstacle making the people separate into smaller and more homogenous cultural groups. This assumed existence of a cultural hybrid is put to the test as a hypothesis. To answer the hypothesis, the cultural hybrid is studied from the perspective of the tarand-graves (an Estonian originating grave type erected and used around the shores of the northern Baltic Sea area during 500 BC–500 AD) which in turn is interpreted according to ritual practice theory. The hypothesis is proven to be true which makes it possible to apply the concept of cultural hybridity, and its connection with tarand-graves in the northern Baltic Sea area, to the Åland Islands. Although the islands have a very promising geographical position in the middle of the northern Baltic Sea area, interestingly, no tarand-graves have been registered there. Grave field Ec 6.6 on the western side of the Åland Islands becomes the object of study mainly due to grave 14, which placed on that particular grave field, carries a high tarand-grave potential. The material is partly collected from two field visits to Ec 6.6 and partly from an excavational report from 1949 of the same grave field. The result shows that the Åland Islands, as well as Ec 6.6, have a very high likeliness of being hosts for tarand-graves.

Through social landscape theory the aim of this thesis is to broaden the understanding of the bronze age monumental graves on the coast of Norrland. Questions about similarities between the stone ship settings and long cairns are analysed by looking at size and placement in the landscape. This shows the possible connections between the two construction types and were questioned throughout the process of writing. A reconstructed shoreline set to Late Nordic Bronze Age period IV, has been analysed by looking at the monuments placement to see possible connections through a maritory between Norrland and southern Sweden. In this thesis I have incorporated some instances of Gotlandic as well as other stone ship settings and long cairns from the Baltic Sea area, to strengthen the point of a possible maritory that connected the societies of northern Sweden with the societies placed around the Baltic Sea. The long cairns can be found in Gävleborg’s county from Söderala parish along the coast all the way up to Byske parish in Västerbotten’s county and seem to be constructed in a way that follow the shape of the mountain, with some anomalies. Stone ship settings can usually be found along the mouth of rivers and are placed more specific in the environment, where the orientation seems to relate to the ancient shoreline and in some cases the monument even point towards plausible routes that would be possible to follow with a ship inland. There is a clear concentration of all monument types in Västernorrland’s county, more specifically around the area of Docksta. The placement of the monuments above sea level in relation to the ancient shoreline, seems to be varied, with no clear rule of what height they should lay on. Many similarities can be found between the two, yet so many differences that only can be answered by excavations of more monuments. Further research and excavations is needed in Norrland with focus on the Bronze Age, which is crucial for the understanding of Sweden’s northern coastal areas and the trade across the Baltic Sea.

My project unfolds on three different scales:  Materials, Objects and a Space. A research on materials and new technique for their transformation, a creation of functional objects out of the transformed materials, and finally, a spatial environment for the created objects. Real-life site visits to various factories and craftsmen, discussions with makers, sourcing leftover materials, transforming materials into borderline art/design objects are among the key elements of my research methodology.  The three scales of my work are unified by the notion of Rituals. My understanding of rituals is not about creating a new religion but focuses rather on the activities in our everyday that can become rituals. It is about finding magic in the mundane. Daily routines and rituals are one of the main things that can keep us grounded, especially in a time of crisis. I believe that material explorations and working with the senses are important and relevant for the field of Spatial design and that my approach to engaging different scales within the project brings something new and yet not vastly explored.

The destructive nature of conventional analytical techniques, coupled with the finite nature of ancient/historical artefacts, has long restricted technical examinations of museum collections, mainly due to ethical constraints. However, over the past few decades, the application of Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) techniques has become increasingly popular within the fields of archaeology and cultural heritage diagnostics. The application of such techniques has facilitated the examination of objects that have long remained uninvestigated. However, this positive development also held a slight drawback, in that researchers tend to now focus on technical analyses alone, while excluding more traditional means of analyses, such as comparative stylistic analysis and surface investigation. By employing a combination of stylistic analysis, visual surface investigation (by means of SLR photography and digital microscopy) and nuclear imaging (by means of Microfocus X-Ray Computed Tomography), the thesis sets out to justify the application of mixed methodologies as part of a more holistic integrated authentication approach. Thus stated, the thesis presents a mixed-methodological approach towards the analysis of selected metal objects from the Ditsong National Museum of Cultural History in Pretoria, South Africa. The objects under investigation include a small collection of ancient Egyptian bronze statuettes, a Samurai helmet (kabuto) and mask (menpó), a European gauntlet, and an Arabian dagger (jambiya/khanjar). While all the objects are curated as part of the museum’s archaeology and military history collections, the exact production dates, manufacturing techniques and areas of origin remain a mystery. By using a combination of techniques, the thesis aims to identify diagnostic features that can be used to shed light on their relative age, culturo-chronological framework and, by extension, their authenticity. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies

Denna uppsats syftar till att studera platser med kontinuitet genom slutet av den sena bronsåldern på Peloponnesos för att undersöka vilka faktorer som bidrar till kontinuitet genom en period som traditionellt definieras av dess förstörelse och sociala oro. Undersökningen utgår från platser med kontinuitet genom SH IIIB–SH IIIC på Peloponnesos publicerade i Mycenaean Atlas Project, och studerar dessa platser genom en kvantitativt jämförande analys. Studien använder resiliensteori, och undersöker vilka karaktärsdrag hos platserna som möjliggjorde resiliens och kontinuitet genom SH IIIB–SH IIIC. Materialet ställs i relation till huvudsakligen två förklaringsmodeller rörande samhällsnedgången under slutet av sen bronsålder: det torrare klimatet, och social oro. I det sociala perspektivet visar resultatet att en försvarbarhet och isolering från palatsens kontaktnät var fördelaktigt för kontinuitet genom perioden. Ur det klimatologiska perspektivet kan ingen tydlig koppling etableras mellan platsernas karaktärsdrag och deras möjlighet till kontinuitet. / This essay aims to study places with continuity through the end of the Late Bronze Age in the Peloponnese to examine what factors contribute to continuity through a period traditionally defined by its destruction and social unrest. Source material for the essay is confined to places with continuity through LH IIIB–LH IIIC in the Peloponnese published through the Mycenaean Atlas Project, and the places are studied through a quantitative and comparative analysis. The study uses resilience theory and examines what place traits made continuity and resilience through LH IIIB–LH IIIC possible. The source material is put in relation to two explanatory models regarding the societal decline during the end of the Late Bronze Age: the drier climate, and social unrest. In the social perspective, the results indicate that defendable places and isolation from the palace networks are favourable aspects for continuity through the period. No clear link between place traits and continuity can be established in the climatological perspective.

Denna uppsats är en empirisk studie av mänskligt skelettmaterial från en hällkistegravplats från Sundre, Gotland. Syftet med uppsatsen är att analysera materialet för att diskutera hälsan hos individerna. Analysen genomförs på det osteologiska materialet för att fastställa eventuella patologier och andra förändringar på skelettet. En diskussion om individernas hälsa framförs efter resultat från analyserna av de mänskliga kvarlevorna för att överlägga huruvida det är möjligt att avgöra hälsa genom enbart osteologiska material. Bronsålder är den huvudsakliga tidsperioden som diskuteras, men med 14C dateringar som gjorts på ett antal benfragment kan man se en kontinuerlig återanvändning av gravplatsen från senneolitikum till vikingatid. I materialet observeras både barn och vuxna i olika åldrar som diskuteras tillsammans med skeletala förändringar i form av aktivitet och sjukdom. Den huvudsakliga diskussionen om hälsa framförs baserat på detta och har resulterat i en slutsats om att hälsan var förhållandevis god under bronsåldern. / This paper is an empirical study of human skeletal material from a stone cist burial site from Sundre, Gotland. The purpose of the essay is to analyze the material to discuss the health of individuals. The analysis is carried out on osteological material to determine any pathologies and other changes on the skeleton. A discussion of the health of the individuals is presented following results from the analyzes of the human remains to consider whether it is possible to determine health through osteological materials alone. The Bronze Age is the main time period discussed, but with 14C dating made on a number of bone fragments, a continuous reuse of the burial site from the Late Neolithic to the Viking Age can be seen. In the material, both children and adults of different ages are observed, which are discussed together with skeletal changes in the form of activity and disease. The main discussion of health is advanced based on this and has resulted in the conclusion that health was relatively good during the Bronze Age.

Bronsåldern är en period med många praktfulla fynd, långhus, storhögar och kremationsgravar. Nu under senare år har flera hällkistor med skelettgravar 14C daterats till bronsåldern, vilket öppnar upp för ny forskning inom tidsperioden när det gäller bland annat hälsoaspekter. Med hjälp av en kvalitativ humanosteologisk studie av två gravanläggningar i Nyplings 1:8, Lokrume socken på Gotland syftar uppsatsen till att påbörja forskningen inom bronsålderns folkhälsa samt motivera till fortsatta framtida forskning inom området. Totalt analyserades 2 598 benfragment med en totalvikt på 6 586 gram. Ett flertal osteologiska metoder användes för ålders- och könsbedömningar samt kvantifiering. Gravarna innehöll tolv individer där två beräknas vara barn och resterande i vuxen ålder. Endast tre individer har kunnat könsbedömmas varav en är av manligt kön och två av kvinnligt kön. Individerna har inte kunnat kroppslängds beräknas i brist på mätbara ben. Analysen av individerna i gravanläggningarna visade att flertalet skeletala förändringar drabbade individerna däribland ledförändringar, fraktur, skärskada och aktivitetsspår. En del av skeletten har uppvisat överlevnad av trauma, vilket är en indikation på en god grundhälsa. Men då majoriteten av individerna inte påvisar skeletala sjukdomar och dött vid en ung ålder har de enligt den osteologiska paradoxen överlag en dålig grundhälsa. De förändringar som har påträffats visar att individerna utsatts för en del smärta, obehag, stelhet och belastning under deras liv. Men trots allt har individerna levt ett relativt långt liv med bättre hälsa än andra individer både från Gotland och Skåne under Bronsåldern. / The Bronze Age is a period with many magnificent finds, naves, large mounds and cremation graves. Now in recent years, several stone cists with skeletal graves have been 14C dated to the Bronze Age, which opens up new research within the time period regarding, among other things, health aspects. With the help of a qualitative human osteological study of two burial sites in Nyplings 1:8, Lokrume parish on Gotland, the essay aims to begin research in Bronze Age public health and to motivate future research in the area. A total of 2 598 bone fragments with a total weight of 6 586 grams were analyzed. A number of osteological methods were used for age and gender assessments and quantification. The graves contained twelve individuals, two of whom are estimated to be children and the rest adults. Only three individuals have been able to be gender assessed, of which one is male and two are female. The individuals’ length was not possible to calculate due to lack of bones measurable bones. The analysis of the individuals in the burials showed that multiple skeletal changes affected the individuals such as joint changes, fracture, cut damage and traces of activity. Some of the skeletons have shown survival of trauma, which is an indication of good basic health. But since the majority of individuals do not show any skeletal diseases and died at a young age, according to the osteological paradox, they generally had poor basic health. The skeletal changes that have been found show that the individuals were exposed to some pain, discomfort, stiffness, and strain during their lives. But despite everything, the individuals lived a relatively long life with better health than other individuals both from Gotland and Skåne during the Bronze Age.

Bab edh-Dhra is the most extensively excavated cemetery from Early Bronze Age, Jordan. Despite thorough study, the social structure and existence of social inequality remain unclear. This was addressed using osteological evidence of physiological stress to compare between family tombs. In societies exhibiting social inequality, individuals of lower status experience higher levels of stress. Evidence of physiological stress (femoral length, LEH, metabolic disorders, periosteal reactions, cribra orbitalia, and porotic hyperostosis) was recorded using standard methods for 250 adults. The artifact counts in this study have been previously published. Differences in the frequency of stress indicators were compared using chi-square tests. The results show no difference in the frequency of stress indicators between tombs and no correlation between artifacts and frequency of stress indicators. This indicates that families at Bab edh-Dhra experienced similar stress levels and low inequality. This may be due to cultural practices, subsistence methods or lack of data.

No description available.

During the Bronze Age, bronze items were sacrificed to the gods by leaving them in the landscape. When making these sacrifices, known as deposits, the Bronze Age people followed certain landscape rules. These rules, and other similarities between the sites, can be rediscovered by analyzing the attributes of the sites. By understanding which attributes are relevant for the deposition sites, we can find more sites and contribute to the understanding of how Bronze Age depositions took place. This study aims to identify relevant attributes for the siting of Bronze Age Lake deposition sites near the lakes Mälaren and Hjälmaren in Sweden. 13 lake deposition sites were examined in ArcMap with respect to 6 attributes: Elevation, Soil Wetness, Aspect, Soil Type, Shore Distance, and Shore Direction. The attributes were studied independently of one another. The results revealed that a majority of deposits were the closest to a southern shore, there were no deposits in northern slopes, and no deposits were made between certain distances from the Bronze Age shoreline. Therefore, the attributes Shore Direction, Shore Distance, and Aspect appear to be relevant to lake deposition sites. The study briefly discusses how these results are related to archeological theories. As this study had a small sample size, the results cannot be assumed to apply to all lake deposit sites. Future studies should study more attributes, how attributes relate to one another, and examine the relevant attributes in other landscape features.